February 27, 2017

Norway has been incentivizing the use of zero emission
vehicles since the 1990s.

Towards the end of 2016, the country already had 100,000
zero-emission cars on the road.

100 PERCENT ELECTRIC

By 2025, all of the cars on Norway’s roads could be
electric. That’s just eight years away—and if the target seems a little
ambitious, it should be noted that the country is already well on its way
toward this goal. Electric vehicle (EV) sales already comprise 37 percent of
Norway’s car market.

Norway has been
incentivizing the use of zero emission vehicles since the 1990s. These
include exempting EVs from value added taxes (VAT), thus making conventional
automobiles significantly more expensive in the country, low annual road tax,
and no purchase and import taxes. EVs also park for free in city centers, get
access to bus lanes, and don’t have to pay road tolls.

According to Elbil:

The overall signal from the majority of political parties is
that it should always be economically beneficial to choose zero and low
emission cars over high emission cars […] The Norwegian Parliament have decided
on a goal that all new cars sold by 2025 should be zero (electric or hydrogen)
or low (plug-in hybrids) emission. This is a very ambitious but feasible goal
with the right policy measures. The Parliament will reach this goal with a
strengthened green tax system based on the polluter pays principle, not a ban.

Towards the end of 2016, the country already had 100,000
zero-emission cars on the road. According to projections, this figure will
quadruple by the end of the decade. Considering the country only has a
population of 5.2 million, this number is already a significant chunk of the
country.

ZERO-EMISSION FUTURE

Around the world, similar efforts are paving the way for a
zero-emission future. While not as bullish as Norway, other countries are
working toward creating similar policies and infrastructure that will support
EVs.

Sales for EVs have also reached a milestone in the Netherlands, with traditional petrol brands
announcing plans to build infrastructure that will support
the charging needs of the growing EV market. This is in addition to
the Dutch Parliament considering
calling a ban on gas and diesel vehicles, in line with the
International Zero-Emission vehicle (ZEV) Alliance, which is a commitment to
make all car sales sustainable and eco-friendly by 2050. Joining them in this
initiative are ten other North American states, the UK, and
Germany, which recently passed a resolution that calls for a ban on
internal combustion engines by 2030.

“If the Paris agreement to curb climate-warming emissions is
to be taken seriously, no new combustion engine cars should be allowed on roads
after 2030,” said Greens party lawmaker Oliver Krischer to Der Spiegel. Coupled with car
manufacturers’ efforts to bring the cost of EVs down, which would ultimately
make them accessible to more people, a zero-free emission future might actually
be possible, not just for Norway, but for the world.